Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane wil host the 85th Academy Awards, it has been confirmed.

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It will be the first time MacFarlane has ever appeared at the Oscars in any capacity, although the writer and performer made a memorable appearance on stage at this year’s Emmys, where he suffered a comedic microphone mix-up.

MacFarlane, whose off-beat humour and love of Broadway show-tunes mark him out as an ideal Oscars host, said it was “an overwhelming privilege” to be asked to front the prestigious Hollywood event.

He said: “My thoughts upon hearing the news were, one, I will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors; and two, I hope they don’t find out I hosted the Charlie Sheen Roast.”

He said: “In the beginning, we had talked about Seth, and we went through our process of thinking conceptually of what kind of show we wanted to do.

“We thought conceptually the most versatile person we could get would give the show the diversity that we wanted. Seth became the logical choice. We were overjoyed that he was interested…”

Having wowed British audiences this summer with his performance at the BBC Proms, MacFarlane pledged that next year’s Oscars will contain “a musical element”.

“The Oscars would not be the Oscars without a musical component,” he said. “Some of the best Oscar shows have had great musical production numbers. So I think there will be a musical element. What the balance is remains to be seen, but we will follow in that grand tradition.”

Neil Meron, another Oscars producer, expressed the opinion that hosting the ceremony will give MacFarlane the opportunity to move into the mainstream, saying: “This will be that moment when he just crosses over on all platforms.”

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Reacting to the news in his own inimitable style, MacFarlane posted a self-deprecating video to YouTube in which he tells his underwhelmed father about the new job. Watch the clip below: